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Entrepreneurs aren’t average people. The average person doesn’t
hedge their bets against the odds and zig while the rest of the
flock chooses to zag. But having the courage and audacity to
enter into an unknown market, create a brand new product or meet
with new partners is exactly what leads to entrepreneurial
success for the simple fact that an entrepreneur’s purpose
defines them.

The desire to improve, learn and grow is intrinsic for the
entrepreneur because they have found a purpose that suits their
life’s mission. But remaining competitive is a daily sport, and
if you fail to live up to your purpose as a leader then you run
the risk of failing to lead.

After spending 13 years in the SEAL Teams, there are five lessons
I want to share that can make you a better business leader (after
all, sharing knowledge is power, right?).

Test yourself -- daily. Leaders need challenges.
They need to defy the unknown and achieve the unexpected. If this
means waking up an hour earlier to work out, read the paper or
just have personal time, do it. The sense of accomplishment
yielded from your efforts will have a snowball effect on your
self-efficacy. And remember, every day counts.

The BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) motto of
“The only easy day was yesterday” always held true because every
day became harder than the last. I remember thinking to myself
after enduring a conditioning run, “That was the hardest run I
ever did!“ That is, until the next conditioning run, and then
that run became the hardest one I ever did. The point is that
every day affords an opportunity to become better than what and
who you were yesterday. If you don’t take advantage of the
opportunity, your competitor will.

Workout (i.e. sweat!). Having the mental
fortitude to push yourself does two things: it shapes your body
and sharpens your mind. It’s easy to brush off the mental
component of exercise if you’re not pushing yourself, especially
if you just go to the gym to talk. But if you exert yourself,
breathe heavily and sweat profusely (no grunts, please), then
your mind feels the same effects and raises its pain threshold,
which in turn allows the body to push itself further.

In his book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise
and the Brain, Harvard clinical professor Dr. John Ratey
cites multiple studies of students’ high school fitness scores
relative to their test scores, with results indicating that
consistent activity positively impacts brain performance. Bottom
line: The daily grind that entrepreneurs must face necessitates
both a strong mind and a strong body. What the mind believes, the
body achieves.

Strive to become better, not the best. In BUD/S,
we did a two-mile ocean swim every week with a swim buddy in the
“toasty warm” Pacific waters (the Pacific is anything but warm).
In the rare chance that a swim pair were to encounter a shark,
the plan was to stab your swim buddy and then swim like hell (no,
really). The point is that a swimmer didn’t have to be the
fastest in the water -- just faster than the guy next to him.
Apply this to your competition.

Demonstrate your C2. Character is who
you are; competence is what you can do. The confluence of these,
which I call C2, is the secret sauce that turns good
leaders into unforgettable people that others aspire to be.

Be humble. Nobody likes hearing the same voice
over and over again. In fact, incessant talkers are what I like
to call social hand grenades -- throw them in a room full of
people and watch the crowd disperse. Don’t be that guy (or gal)
who likes to talk just to show everyone how much you know.
Remember this: Nobody cares how much you know, until they know
how much you care.

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It takes focus,
determination, and discipline to push through the daily grind if
you want to win. Separate yourself from the pack by practicing
the fundamental leadership skills that cultivate better
performance -- and better business.